Mr Trump's dramatic break on Wednesday with decades of US policy on Jerusalem counters long-standing international assurances to the Palestinians that the fate of the city will be determined in negotiations.

The Palestinians seek Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, captured by Israel in 1967, as a future capital.

Palestinians closed their schools and shops on Thursday to begin three "days of rage" over Mr Trump's decision.

Rallies were underway in other West Bank cities, and a demonstration was being held outside the Damascus Gate of Jerusalem's Old City.

The Israeli military said two rockets were fired from Gaza but fell short, landing in Palestinian territory.

A Jihadist Salafi group in Gaza called the Al-Tawheed Brigades — which does not heed the call from the enclave's dominant force, Hamas, to desist from firing rockets — claimed responsibility for the launches.

Hamas, a group that seeks Israel's destruction, killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks in the early 2000s. But the group's capabilities are more limited now.

Gaza, Hamas's stronghold, is closed by an Israeli blockade, while in the West Bank, many of its members have been arrested.

Nonetheless, it possesses a large arsenal of rockets in Gaza capable of striking much of Israel.

The Israeli military said it would deploy several battalions to the West Bank ahead of Friday, while other troops have been put on alert to address "possible developments".

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would stand by UN resolutions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

"We're sticking to the relevant UN resolutions — they make clear that the status of Jerusalem needs to be negotiated as part of negotiations on a two-state solution for Israel and that's why we want this process to be revived," she said.